Moments in Time - Part 1
Arti's eyes
glistened with tears as she got Ansh ready. Her six year old was going to the "big-kids"
school! His first day!
I wish...instantly she curbed those
thoughts. Futile thoughts that only brought pain. Why dwell on what was not to be?
She got him
dressed, fed him a hurried breakfast and skipping her own, she drove them to
his school. As he stood at the entrance, she pulled out her phone and took his
picture. Then she pulled him to her and gave him a hug.
Ansh gave her a
watery smile and started walking away. Suddenly he stopped, spun on his heels
and looked back at her. He ran to her and she knelt down, gathering him into
her arms again. He kissed her and she rubbed her nose against his. "Go on. You
will love school. Trust me."
As he walked away,
her eyes brimmed with tears. Her baby!
His first step into the real world. And only she knew how hard it was to let
him go...
"Trust me. You
will love school."
She turned around
as she heard an echo of her words. A man was bending down, hugging two girls
tightly.
"We know Papa. You
told us. But we have to go there first, na",
one of the girls' said, wiping his tears off and Arti smiled to herself.
As Arti got into
her car, she turned back to look towards the school gates one last time. Ansh
was nowhere in sight - he had already gone in, as had the other children. Most of the parents had left too. But he was
still there - that man she had seen with two girls, still kneeling in the same
position as he had been when his girls' went in. He
looked...familiar the thought floated in.
Ansh had been full
of stories about his day but he could not stop talking about the twins in his
class. "They look exactly alike, Mamma. No one can tell them apart - except me"
he declared proudly.
Arti smiled at him
as she placed dinner on the table. "And how do you tell them apart?"
"Easy!! One talks
all the time and the other is always quiet!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
"So how do you
tell them apart when both are silent?" she asked.
"Never happens! I
told you one talks non-stop" he said rolling his eyes.
While eating he
continued his chatter, "You know Mamma, some of the kids were teasing the
twins. And you know what?" he stopped expectantly.
"What?" she
supplied dutifully.
"The quiet one?
She just strode up to them and put her hands on her hips. Then she just stood
there and glared. Mamma - they all ran away! She looked so scary with her eyes
all round and angry" he said wonderingly.
Next morning Ansh
met his new friends at the school gates. "Come on, let's go inside".
The twins were
holding their father's hand. At his
words, the father's hold tightened.
"Don't worry Papa,
we will be fine" one of the girls said. The other looked at Ansh and said, "You
go in, why are you waiting here?"
"For you both"
Ansh replied. "Come on, now".
The girls' pulled
on their father's arms and as he bent down, they kissed him on the cheek on
either side and then ran off.
As they ran inside
the gates, Arti heard Ansh say, "You know what? We should become a team - theThree
Musketeers."
Arti turned to the
man. He looked so forlorn, so lost. She knew exactly how he felt. On an
impulse, she said, "Your daughters?"
He turned to her
and with unseeing eyes nodded a yes.
She saw his face
for the first time and her breath caught. It
couldn't be... could it? After so many years...
Hesitantly she
said, "Yash?"
His eyes snapped
into focus and he looked at her. And his eyes widened in recognition. "Arti?"
The
past...
They had known
each other in college. In fact, he had saved her from ragging. Three years her
senior and one of the most sought after males in college, he had stalked up to
Ishita who had been about to chop off Arti's long tresses and taken the shears
out of her hands.
"Stay out of this
Yash. We girls rag girls - you go mess with the freshmen boys" Ishita had
snapped.
"I won't remind
you of the rules Ishita - waste of time. But if you don't stop your activities
right now I will make sure you are barred from every single campus party" Yash
had replied quietly and walked away, leaving behind a white-faced furious girl.
Ishita had looked
daggers at Arti for the remainder of that year, but she had left well alone.
There were no more incidents of ragging - of any student in their college
campus. The uber-cool Yash Scindia had declared ragging uncool... Who would dare
rag and be called a dork then?
Arti had thanked
Yash who had smiled and told her, "I couldn't let that witch cut your beautiful
hair, now could I?" And with a wink he had walked away to join his friends.
They would pass each other in the corridor
and exchange hidden smiles. And in the year-end party, the one for graduating students, Yash had set
tongues wagging by dancing the last dance with her.
Her friends had
thought they were dating and had started to tease her. But when Arti completely
ignored their teasing and they didn't see Yash again, they gave up on her.
Unknown to them, Yash and Arti remained in touch via email for the next few
years.
Life caught up
with them. Yash got busy with work, Arti with graduation and job search. Slowly
they lost touch, except for the annual emails wishing their families a happy
new year. By unspoken consent, they never sent each other that greeting through
mass email. It was always a personal note,
from one to the other. But even that had petered off in the last three years...
Present...
"Coffee?" Yash
asked after they got over the preliminary surprised greetings.
Arti shook her
head ruefully, "I would have loved to but I have to go. Have a client meeting
in 30 minutes."
Yash nodded in
understanding, "Some other time."
As they walked to
their respective cars, Yash asked, "Where do you work?" Arti mentioned the name
of the most prestigious publishing company in the nation. She was an editor
there - a fact she was proud of, given the toil and tears that had accompanied
her journey.
Yash clapped her
on the back, making her stumble. He grabbed her arm to stop her from falling
and said," Sorry but I got excited. That is absolutely wonderful Arti! I know
how much you wanted that - your dream job in your dream company! And you did
it! I am so proud of you".
Arti's eyes filled
with tears. If only...no one had said
that to her before...
She composed her
face and said brightly, "Thank you Yash. You were always my rock. What are you
doing now?"
He mentioned one
of the largest banks in the country, where he was the regional manager. "Wow!
That's excellent!" Arti said.
He shrugged, "I
like it, yes, but its just work."
The underlying
sadness and defeat in his tone surprised her. "Yash?" she asked turning to look
at him, her eyes full of questions.
Just then his cell
phone rang and he turned away to answer it. After a brief moment, he looked at
Arti and said, "Sorry Arti I have to go."
The coffee never
happened. They met nearly each morning as they dropped their children off. They would chat for a few minutes each day, not more. Arti started to look
forward to those brief moments in time...moments that were reminders of a
happier time, moments of friendship, moments when she could breathe and just be.
The school
organized a picnic at the 6-month mark. Parents and siblings were invited. Ansh
was so excited he and Arti reached school early!
The Three
Musketeer gang had planned out the whole day and forced their parents to join
them as well. After a grueling few hours
in the sun running after the kids, playing hop-scotch, kabaddi and finally
cricket, Arti was exhausted. When Ansh
came and pulled her arm, she resisted, "No Ansh aur nahi! Mamma is tired beta. Let me rest. Why don't you go and
play with your friends?"
Seeing Arti relax
in the shade, Yash joined her with two glasses of lemonade. He sat down next to
her and handed her one glass. They sat together quietly, in silent harmony.
As the children
ran around in front of them, Arti smiled and asked, "Who is who?"
Yash smiled in
return, He got that a lot. "Payal is
the talkative one - with longer hair. Palak is the quieter one."
"But with large
beautiful eyes that can become scary when someone messes with her and her
sister" Arti said, a smile in her voice. Yash nodded and then looked at her
questioningly so Arti told him about the first day in school.
"Yes...she has
always been the fighter, the protector. Not that Miss Talk-a-thon needs a lot
of protection, but Palak has her share of Mamma Bear hackles" Yash said,
sliding down into a more comfortable position.
"Where is her
Mamma?" Arti asked. And saw Yash's face close down. Almost as if he had pulled a shutter down...
"She...she is no
more" Yash said in a flat voice.
"I am sorry" Arti
replied, reaching out to touch her friend's shoulder. He nodded.
"Where is Ansh's
father?" he asked in turn. And watched a plethora of emotions fly across Arti's
expressive face. Anger, hurt, grief...and
then...resignation.
"He is gone" she
said blandly and walked away.
Part -2
Edited by kdsubs - 10 years ago
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